January 2004

Annual Convention spotlight focuses on Brown v. Board of Education - 50 Years Later

The 2004 State Bar Annual Convention Spotlight CLE Program will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic case, Brown v. Board of Education. The State Bar is pleased to welcome the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Chair Julian Bond as the keynote speaker for the "Brown v. Board of Education: 50 Years Later" program.

NAACP Chair Julian Bond

Bond has been active in the civil rights and economic justice movements since 1960 - as an activist who has faced jail, as a 20-year veteran in the Georgia General Assembly, as a university professor, and as a writer.

In 1960, while a student at Morehouse College, Bond founded the Atlanta student sit-in and anti-segregation organization and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Elected in 1965 to the Georgia House of Representatives, he was cochair of a challenge delegation from Georgia to the 1968 Democratic Convention that unseated Georgia's regular Democrats. Bond became the first black American to be nominated for vice president by any major political party, but had to decline because he was too young.

Bond is a commentator on "America's Black Forum," the oldest black-owned show in television syndication. His poetry and articles have appeared in numerous publications. He has narrated various documentaries, including the Academy Award-winning "A Time For Justice" and the prize-winning and critically acclaimed series "Eyes on the Prize."

Following Bond's presentation, State Bar President-elect Michelle Behnke will moderate a panel discussion on the effect of Brown v. Board of Education on Wisconsin law.

The program will be presented from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 6, at the 2004 State Bar Annual Convention at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison. The convention will be held from May 5 to May 7. More information about this year's convention will be mailed in January.

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